Rapid Prototyping of Embedded Systems: 1997 Update

The rapid prototyping process outlined in [1] has been updated to reflect the automotive industry's turn toward 32-bit embedded hardware and “C” software as well as enhancements in commercially available rapid prototyping systems. To exploit these advancements, Caterpillar, Inc. and Integrated Systems, Inc. (ISI), partnered to develop a PC-based rapid prototyping computer which provides the capability to rapidly test alternative control strategies using production-intent embedded system hardware (H/W) and software (S/W). The tool significantly improves the ease and reduces the experience level required by non-control system engineers employing the rapid prototyping process [1] and provides a stepping stone toward direct application of automatically generated C code to production embedded systems.